Motor-vehicle.



M. MOSKOWITZ.

MOTOR VEHIULB.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18, 1912.

%%e%og El MM Patented Aug. 5, 1913,

p UNITED STATES v PATENT --OFFICE..

flronnr's mos'xowr'rz, or nomcnam, NEW :iEnsnY;

noronp'vanrcta'.

Specification of letters iaten t.

iatented Aug. 5, 1913.

fiontinuation in part of application Serial No.- 700329, filed May 2 9;1312 This application flied December- To all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, Moms Mosxowrrz,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Montclair, New Jers'ey, have invented c'ertain new and useful Improvements ir'r'Motor-Vehicles, of which the following isv a specification, accompaniedby drawings.- This application is a division of my 60+ pendingapplication Serial No. 7 00,429,- filed. A 13.

May 29, 1912, with additional features This invention relates generallyto start ing apparatus and lighting apparatus an motor, vehicles havin"an engine, as a gas engine, requiring an initial starting impulse to beapplied to the crank shaft, and the best form of the invention known tome is embodied in combined power driven electric apparatus for firststarting the engine and thereafter furnishing current for lighting',ignition, and any other desired 'pu'rposes. 7

My invention does away with hand cranking by providing power drivenmeans for crankin the engine, refer-ably electrically operate which aree cient and econoi'r'iical' and capable of also furnishing current whenacting as a generator.-

- Heretofore automatic starting devices have been connected to Variousparts of autom'obile gas engines and crowded nnder the engine hood wherethere is inadequate room,- the power transmission being efiecte'dthrough chains, gears or belting, but in addition to the lack ofspaceunder the hood,

the parts are-not easily reached for inspection and repairs, and theconstruction is iihfrom an engineering practical and costly standpoint;particularly is this time in connection with electric starting'andlighting a paratus, in which a dynamo electric ina 0 inc is employedoperatively connected to the engine crank shaft. A comparatively smallmachine will generate suflicie'nt current for lighting an automobile,but such a well adapted for, afitbin'obile use, especially in thecramped qaarters in which'they'hav'e been laced.

One of the rimary objects 0t my-invention is to enable the engine-to bestarted by means of a small and light dynamo electric maehiae of lowower as compared with the" large high powered machines heretofore Infact, I have discovered means for. starting the engine with. the powerfur ni'sh'ed by a machine no larger than that reqiiiied for ordinarylighting purposes and" incapable of .crankin the en e ifdirectl'yc'ohn'eeted thereto. nstead a large num: ber of storage battery cellstofurfli'sh the starting current, I ordinaril require Lao more cellsthan ordinaril used for lighting and ignition phi-poses. I thuseconomize on the weight of the battery, as well as reducing In ordertoada'pt a small dynamo electric :niachine to the hea'jvy' duty. ofstarting a.

gas engine, I bring the machine, ru ning a a motor without load, up tospeed while di's'g connected from the engine crank shaft, and I Iprovide means, as for in t-ano e fining clutch for gradually applyingtmpower the motor to the engine crank shaft, thus shaft in anatural mannee due to the ally developed torqueof the motor.

chrrent is drawn froni the battery tha'ii the dynamo eleetr'ic machinewas-started an;

der load and Meal onditions are established .1, i

for lthe use of a small light battery iifi automobile. Anotherimport-afitcomideration which develops as a; result off'thereduetionia'the th machine, resides in the fact"t liat- I' any hotIimitedjto the confined's'bacc Iiifideithe engine hood for" mounting mya paratas on oa oausing the machine to erankthe gas engine as ize; weiht andpowerof the dynamo al s-l;

'ratns heretofore used, the dynamo electric machine is entirelyinadequate :Eor starting a gas engine, because considerable power isrequired to start theayerag'e automobile gas engine, especially whencold. In the a paelectricmachine at the front-of the vehicle, fpreferably outside of the radiator The machine may readily-be. connectedto any suitable part;v of theoar frame apthefimt of the radiator, andthe armature shaft may convenient-1y be arrangeain substantial pro-Iofig'ation of the engine crank shaft, with sliit'ableclutch' o'ferat'mgmeans or other de= vices aerated om the drivers seat for gradualyconnecting" one shaft to the other. 11:;

machine has been Very large and heavy, and is run at high speed whenacting as a motor, while the gas engine crank shaft is turned overslowly through gear reduction or other: means. These large machines arecumber= some, too heavyv for commercial use, and not.

the vehicle; since I may mount he,dyna1ii6' '-1-oa The dynamo electricmachine occupies small space at the front of thevehicle, adds noappreciable weight to the vehicle, and is readily inspected andrepaired, without the necessity of dismantling a portion of the car.Another great advantage of mounting the dynamo electric machine at thefront of the car, outside of the hood, resides in the fact that. otherthings being equal, I can use a smaller machine than would be possibleunder the hood or in any other location on the car, and I avoid theserious disadvantage of subjecting the machine to the intense heat ofthe engine under the hood. Since the capacity of a dynamo electricmachine is limited by its ability to withstand heat, I am enabled toobtain maximum capacity with a minimum weight and size. After themachine has been utilized as a motor to start the engine, the armatureremains connected to the engine crank shaft and the machine is driven asa generator for furnishing current.

I am not to be understood as limiting the invention to aparticulardynamo electric machine, or a particular clutch.

The invention is illustrated in one of its preferred forms in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sideelevation, partly broken away, of so much of a motor vehicle as willserve to illustrate the invention; Fig. 2 is a front end elevation ofFig. 1; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of suitable circuits andconnections for the starting and lighting apparatus; Fig. 4 is adiagrammatic side elevation similar to Fig. 1, showing a modification ofthe invention, and Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of Fig. 4 ontheline 5-5 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a portion of the body of themotor vehicle, B the drivers seat, C theside frames or reaches,preferably in the form of channels,

D the engine hood, and E the radiator at the front' of the car. One ofthe front wheels is indicated diagrammatically at F,

and G indicates the position of the front axle. The storage batterycells H are conveniently mounted on the running board J as usual and thecrank shaft is indicated at K with the parts of the car, which wouldotherwise hide the crank shaft from view, removed for simplicity andclearness of illustration.

A light and small dynamo electric machine L is suitably mounted at thefront of the vehicle outside of the radiator E and suspended from anysuitable part of the car, as by means of the brackets or arms 0 whichmay be conveniently connected to the channels C as by means of the boltsP. The armature shaft Q is preferably separate and independent from thecrank shaft K and may be conveniently arranged substantially inalinement or prolongation of the crank shaft. A short coupling piece Rforming a portion of the crank shaft is preferably provided coupled tothe main shaft K as by means of an Oldham coupling vS, comprising inthis instance a female member or socket T on the main shaft K and a malemember U on the coupling member R, affording a certain amount of playbetween the parts. Any other suitable coupling may be provided at thispoint.

Suitable means are provided for gradually applying the power of thedynamo electric machine to the crank shaft, in this instance a clutchbeing shown comprisin the female clutch member V connected to t earmature shaft Q and the male clutch member W connected to rotate withthe coupling member R, but slidable thereon. In order to actuate theclutch member W longitudinally, the hub of said member may be providedwith the circumferentially grooved portion X between which and a stop orcollar Y on the coupling member R is provided a compression spring Znormally tending to force the clutch member W against the clutch memberV. Any suitable means may be provided for operating the clutch-member Wfrom the drivers seat, one suitable device being 95 shown comprising arod a pivoted to a bracket 1) and suitably engaging the grooved portionX of the hub of the clutch member W, so that the hub may rotaterelatively to the rod a. A longitudinal connecting rod 0 100 connectsthe rod a with a foot lever d pivoted at e to the frame of the car andhaving its end f in convenient position for manipulation by the foot ofthe driver, so that by pressing upon the operating end .7 of the 5 leverd, the clutch member W will be retracted from the clutch member V.

A cap 9 may be provided at the outer end of the armature shaft Q intowhich the end it of the armature shaft extends, so that a hand crank maybe used for turnin the engine over slowly by hand, as for instance, fortiming purposes.

In cranking the engine by means of my improved apparatus, a startingswitch j may be conveniently provided on the dashboard 71c and suitablecircuits and connections are provided-for supplying current from thebattery H to the dynamo electric machine L for operating the machine asa motor. The driver first disconnects the clutch members V and W bymeans of the foot lever f and then throws the switch and brings thedynamo electric machine up to speed as a motor disconnected from thecrank shaft of the engine and without load. After the machine has beenspeeded up as a motor, pressure on the foot lever is gradually relaxedand the clutch members V and W are allowed to gradually engage, therebypermitting the dynamo electric machine operating as a mo tor to crankthe engine. The dynamo electric machine which would otherwise haveinadequate power for starting the engine if directly connected tothecrank shaft, is enabled to do the required work of turning over theengine as the power is gradually applied to the crank shaft. Thecircuits and connections are such and the dynamo electric machine is ofsuch character, that after the engine is started, the clutch members Vand IV may remain inengagement and the machine will be operated as agenerator furnishing current for useful purposes.

In Fig. 3 a diagrammatic view is shown of suitable circuits andconnections, in which 0 represents the armature of the dynamo electricmachine L having the brushes p and g. 7' represents thestartmg switchadapted to be placed on the dash-board as stated and H represents thestorage battery cells. A lighting circuit 1- havingthe lamps s or othertranslating devices, is provided with the switch If and connected to thebattery terminals. The main armatu're circuit at indicated in heavylines is connected to charge the battery H and the switch 7' isinterposed in this main circuit. An automatic switch '2) comprises thecoils w and m connected across the armature and adapted to actuate thecore 3/ having the switch member 2 cooperating with the contacts 2 and 3connected respectively to the main circuit u and to the circuit of thecoils w and as, so that when the switch member 2 bridges the contacts 2and 3, the armature circuit will be closed through this switch. It is tobe understood that any suitable switch may be used and the dynamoelectric machine L may be of any approved self-regulating type of dynamounder speed variations.

In the operation of the apparatus, by closing the manual switch 7',current passes from the battery H to the dynamo electric machine L andsaid machine rotates as a motor. Working as a generator, the dynamoelectric machine L will cause the automatic switch v to close when thevoltage is high enough to overcome or charge the battery H and thisautomatic switch vwill also open the circuit between the battery H andthe generator L when the voltage falls below a predetermined point. Ihave merely illustrated suitable circuits and connections for carryingout the operation of the apparatus, but obviously different arrangementsmay be used.

It will be seen that the objects of the invention, as stated in theopening paragraphs of this specification, are carried out by means ofthe apparatus illustrated in the drawings, but obviously difierentmechanical constructions and arrangements of parts may be devisedwithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

In some instances, it may be desirable to provide automatic means forgradually connecting the dynamo electric machine, to the engine shaft,and in 4 and 5, I have shownsuch a modification.

Any suitable form of automatic clutch may be interposed between thedynamo electric machine and the en ine shaft, for instance, the armatureshafta may be provided with a disk 5 carrying centrifugal clutch members6 adapted to cooperate with the female clutch member 7' on the maincrank shaftS. Theceritrifugal clutch members 6 are shown in the formof'arms pivoted at 9 to the disk 5, and normally retracted by springs10. The outer ends of the members 6 are provided with shoes 12 havingfriction surfaces adapted to frictionally engage the female member 7when the members 6 are thrown outwardly by centrifugal force, and thusgradually connect the dynamo electric machine to themgine shaft.

The motor L may, if desired, be of sufiicient size and strength and havesuflicient starting torque to be capable of starting. the enginedirectly without first speeding up the motor. In that case the clutchwould be engaged directly without substantial slip on starting. Theincreased weight of this motor generator can be compensated for by reducing the weight of the gas engine flywheel by an amount substantiallyequivalent to the weight of the armature of the motor generator.

I claim and desire to obtain by Letters Patent the following:

1. The combination with the frame of an automobile, of an internalcombustion engine mounted at the front of said frame, the shaft of saidengine having a forward extension, a clutch-member on said extension, adynamo machine hung on brackets below said frame and in front of theengine hood, the armature shaft of said dynamo machine having thereon aclutch-member to cooperate with the clutch-member on the engine shaftextension, a storage battery and connections therefrom to the dynamo,and means operated from theldrivers seat for mechanically con trollingthe clutch and means similarly .located for electrically controlling thedynamo.

2. The combination with the frame of an automobile, of an internalcombustion engine mounted at the front of said frame, the shaft of saidengine having a forward extension, said extension having a swiveledcoupling to said engine shaft, a clutch-member on said extension, adynamo machine hung on brackets below said frame and in front ofthe-engine hood, the armature shaft of said dynamo machine havingthereon a clutch-member to cooperate with the clutchmember on the engineshaft extension, a

storage battery and connections therefrom to the dynamo, and ,meansoperated from the drivers seat for mechanically controlling shaftextension, and a stor-agebattery and connections therefrom to thedynamo, and means for electrically controlling the 15 dynamo.

In testimony whereof I have signed this speclfication in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

MORRIS MOSKOWITZ.

Witnesses: I

Hnnennm- G. OGDEN, HENRY SHELDON.

